‘New York meets Chicago mixed with New Orleans and a splash of Oakland thrown in.”

That’s how a customer described the 10-day-old Pican, says restaurant owner Michael LeBlanc. Pican, in a new building on Broadway near Grand Avenue in Oakland, is the culmination of a 24-year dream.

“I wrote it down as a goal when I was a young man,” he explains. Before he could realize the dream, LeBlanc worked as an executive for Polaroid, which took him all around the world. But his restaurant, named for his favorite nut (with an added flair), reflects his childhood growing up in New Orleans. The food is a mixture of Southern, Cajun, Creole and Caribbean tastes.

LeBlanc enticed chef Dean Dupuis to move to Oakland from Atlanta’s South City Kitchen, well known for serving “new” Southern cuisine.

“Dean is like a zealot on Southern cooking,” LeBlanc says. The menu lists stalwarts such as cream cheese biscuits with homemade pepper jelly ($5); small plates such as bourbon and chile cured salmon with crispy “hoe cakes” ($10); and “Southern Foie Gras” — pan-fried chicken livers with smokehouse bacon, crispy shallots, charred scallions and sweet onion-marsala gravy ($8); and gumbo ($8). Pork ribs come with a peanut-jalapeno coleslaw ($25); and the fried chicken comes with a side of Gouda mac and cheese ($20). Collard greens, okra and grits are available as side dishes ($6).

Pican seats 158 in the bar, lounge and main dining area, with another 24 seats at outdoor tables in a few months (the perfect place to serve mint juleps, LeBlanc says). A private Bourbon Room seats 20. LeBlanc worked closely with designer Tonya Bellusci to achieve what he calls a “Gone With the Wind” plantation home feel. Earth tones, warm woods and amber lights give the restaurant its ambience, along with background music ranging from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughn. The result, if LeBlanc does say so himself, is “hip, elegant and fun.”

“My goal is to have folks go ‘Wow!'” LeBlanc says. “I want five-star customer service and food, but in a comfortable, welcoming environment that says, ‘Y’all come back here, now.'”

OPENING SOON: Danville’s popular The Peasant & The Pear is expanding to Alamo, in the location of the Courtyard Cafe, which closed last month. The Peasant Courtyard will be a more casual cafe, says owner Rodney Worth, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Breakfast, he says, won’t be run-of-the-mill. Such as? “Green eggs and ham.” Glad we asked. There will also be house-made beignets. OK, we’ll bite.

Lunch and dinner will be served from 11 a.m. every day, and share the same menu. The Peasant’s famous Black and Blue tri-tip salad will be on the menu, as well as fish and chips, chili and root beer floats. Worth says it will be open within the month, after some painting, carpeting and a new kitchen installation. He looks forward to the good weather.

“This location has a beautiful spot for outdoor dining. It’s like Carmel.” He plans on having live music in the courtyard on weekends. Hours are 7 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. weekends. The Peasant Courtyard, 3195 Danville Blvd., Alamo.

OPENING BY SUMMER: Moraga’s popular Amoroma is opening a second restaurant, the more casual Pizzeria Amoroma, in Orinda in a few months, in the space that was most recently Orinda House. One of the owners, Hafiz Haidari, says they’ll try to meet the needs of customers on the theater side of town, offering thin-crust pizzas made in brick ovens, small plates, lots of salads and appetizers. There won’t be a full wine bar as the Moraga location has, but there will indeed be a full bar, which is good news in case someone is dragging you down the street to see a movie you don’t like.

GOT TIPS?: Do you know of a restaurant that is closing or opening? A new chef, or one who is leaving? Let us know the restaurant news going on in your city, and we’ll spread the word. E-mail timestipsincluded@yahoo.com.

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